Posted by Mark on 10/01/06 05:24

Please bear with me on this, it gets a bit long for clarification. I have a
couple Home Theater systems from Panasonic. One (HT820V) has a DVD changer
on one side & VCR on the other & no digital audio, AM/FM tuner, decent bass
thru the subwoofer, and the component output don't work. It only has one A/V
input available. There's a loose connector on the main board that if I move
the unit to get at the back of it, or try putting another component on top
of it, it sometimes will stop working until I restore its placement or give
it a whack. Very temperamental unless I leave it be.

The other (HT900) has 4 tower speakers, an awesome visual look to its
design, a DVD carousel, AM/FM tuner, optical audio, not as much deep bass to
its sub as the HT820V, more A/V inputs, otherwise great. I actually found
how to use the 820 sub on the 900 and that's the best combo so far.

I'm getting a Panasonic DMR-ES30V DVD recorder next week. Any opinions on
this model? It has a VCR too, and optical out, plus a couple other
inputs/outputs. I'd like to transfer my VCR tapes to DVD, plus maybe record
some TV. I think using DVD-RAM you can record and play back from the
beginning while still recording. I have HD cable & will save my hookup
questions for another time.

When I started thinking about hooking up to a Toshiba 42HL196 1080p HDTV, I
realized the 820V was the oddball, with no optical. Then I realized the
HT900 only has one optical input. So I guess the 900 wins out, but the TV's
optical out gets first preference over the DVD burner.

Anyway, thinking I needed more inputs/outputs & opticals, I ordered a A/V
receiver based Panasonic HT system, including speakers. I think it has 2
optical plus a coaxial, plus discrete 6 channel input. It also has a bunch
of inputs/outputs including a couple component i/o. It also has more clean
wattage, equal watts to all 6 speakers. It does have enough opticals for
both the TV & a DVD changer or the DVD recorder, but not all 3.

The main problem is it's just a receiver based system--no DVD changer like
the others. And max is component out, no HDMI.

None of the HT systems are really expensive, just your basic HTIB's with
Dolby Digital & 5.1 surround, plus other DSP features like super surround,
etc. Everything is going in a pretty small room, maybe 100sq ft, and don't
need tons of watts--all three are in the 600w range I believe, though the
receiver one has much less THD. None of the HT systems costed me over $175.

I guess my question would be should I keep the HT900, with 1 optical, with
or without the other subwoofer, or should I keep the receiver based system?

And if I keep the receiver system, what's a good inexpensive DVD changer to
add to it? Keep in mind this is on the cheap--most of the money was spent on
the 1080p TV. If warranty matters, the HT900 has 2 years and the receiver
system has 2 or 3... have to check.

Thanks for any help.

matermark

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